Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-10-01
COL. srFECH
Is Made at the BearlsyiIe R~eunion-The
Full Text.

As Made at the Beallsville R~eunion-The
Full Text.
Comrades. LddieS and FtIiOw.C Citizens;
l am not here to make you u temper
ance spaech, nor TO worry you as politi-
clans do about the great issues of the
day" which, by the way, are very few.
At Washington they. make greenbackS
by steam, and the first issue is to the office
holders, the second issue to the political
hangers-on, preparatory to the success OF
The next election.
This is q day set apart to he enrolled IN
the annals of history, rs IA day Tor the re-
uuion of the soldiers of Dlrford Post. The
soldiers are assembled here to-day in
honor of their fallen comrades, aud in re-
membrance of those with whom they have
shared the many priyatious ot Il camp life,
aud those who stood shoulder TO shoulder
by them even in battle, where mems souls
were tried to their utmost capacity. The
citizens have assembled here to daY not
only in honor of the fallen dead but out Of
their respect for those who have survived
the war.
l am the soldiers friend. l am here as
the representative of both the living ard
dead soldiers, not only to tell what the
soldiers have done and suffered, but to say
what l think the Goyerment ought 10 do,
for what they hare done. That is, give to
every soldier a pension according to his
merits. Talk about the sOldier-the man
who buckled on his ~knapslck, shouldered
his musket marched, With his wife and
children believing the path to the gate
with tears rs they bid him farewell per-
! haps forever, to put down the rebellion Tor
thirteen dollars per month. With all due
! RESPECT 20 the officers, when yOu put these
soldiers into the scale, they weigh Us AL
! down, no matter how many baT5 aud
stripes We may wear on our shoulders LIE
idea ola soldier losing a leg or IN arm, or
perhaps both, and getting one dollar a day
to support himself, wife and perhaps hall a
dozen children. Why, in the battle of Spot
s~ylvania, a sharpShOOter shot the figure Z
from the center of the tretOil IT my hat,
taking q part of hay head with it, and l
was satisfied, you may bet, to get of as
we'll as | did with this old hat. But worse
than that in the battle OF Antietam. The
dsvilish sharpshOOters at one yOlley put
three bullets through my horse and one
| plumb through my canteen which was
hanging BY my side, spilling all my apple
Jack. Now l think l ought to have back
pay for the spplejack aud a reasonable
pension for the wounded canteen.
When the startling news reached Wash
ingtOn that Fort Sumter was hombarded,
Stephen A. Douglas, the Little Giant, a
member of the Senate from Illinois, arose
in his seat and notified the Senate that
1.-The Government ship was on lire. y
He said: 1--WE cannot now stop to
~ipuuire who are the ~incendiaries.
The flames must he extinguished. 1t
NAV cost treasures; it may cost
blood; the sacrifice must be made. The fire
bells rang, the alarm spread like electricity
all overthe North, East and West,and men
of all classes left their places, their work
shops. plows and desks and volunteered TO
extiuguish the fire. And | am here to-day
as the representative of the soldiers who
had the nerve to mount the scatfold and
,ffer up their lives, q it it were 3 living
sacrifice, to take the chances for iuture
events. The first attempt TO put out the
fire was at Bull Run, where the names IN
creased to sueh an alarming extent that q
committee from the west suggested to the
President the propriety of compron ising
with the South. "Old Abe" replied: Com
promise nothing. Fight it o n on TIE Mason
and Dixon line" The people took courage
and rallied their forces, and while Gen.
Mcclellan attacked the fiery flames at An
tietam, Gen. Sherman, Gen. Grant, Gen.
Thomas and others attacked the South at
Vicksburg Pittsburg Landingand Murfrees-
bOrO, whilst Gen. Hancock with MS second
corps swept through the Wilderness to
SpOttsylvania, making death and destrue-
laying everything waste before hrm as
though a cyclone had swept through, be-
hold then came the decisive battle at Get
tysbuTg, now the seat of war. The time
bad come when the destiny Of this Govern
ment depended on the bravery of our
troops. Here Greek met Greek. Here it
was hand to hand and steel TO steel. The
time had come when the only way left was